Obesity and Fat Control Myths

-- Are your ideas of obesity and fat control based on a myth? -
For years we heard that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet would keep us healthy and help us lose weight. And many of us jumped on the bandwagon. Our idea of obesity and fat control was to eliminate fat and high-cholesterol foods from our diets.
Unfortunately, we were doing it all wrong.
-- The Truth about Obesity and Fat Control --
Instead of eliminating fat completely, we should have been eliminating the “bad fats,” the fats associated with obesity and heart disease and eating the “good fats,” the fats that actually help improve blood cholesterol levels.
-- Bad Fats --
There are two bad fats that you should limit your intake of — saturated and trans fats.
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are mostly animal fats. You find them in meat, whole-milk products, poultry skin, and egg yolks. Coconut oil also has a high amount of saturated fat. Saturated fats raise the levels of both the good and bad blood cholesterol.
Trans Fats
Trans fats are produced through hydrogenation—heating oils in the presence of oxygen. Many products contain trans fats because the fats help them maintain a longer shelf life.
Margarine also contains a high amount of trans fats. Trans fats are especially dangerous because they lower the good cholesterol, HDL and raise the bad cholesterol, LDL.